Well who could’ve predicted the response generated by a simple question I posed last week? From the number of replies we have received I just hope no heated arguments have ruined friendships!
As you will recall, I told (rather bravely I thought) the story about 2 of our school boats running aground next to each other and posed the question which would float off first?
To remind you the Sydney 41 ‘Oceans’ with a draft of 2.7 meters was ‘parked’ along side the Jeanneau 40 ‘Capriccio’ with a draft of 1.7 meters. Both grounded at low tide.

This exercise was of course completely staged by the skippers, purely for training purposes. I might remind you kids, don’t try this at home. We have been ‘flooded’ (nice little tide pun there for those of you not paying attention) with reader’s replies. Apart from the numerous out of work comedians who chipped in with humorous comments – (‘The one with the biggest engine’ was a very popular comment), there was pretty much a fair spread between the two wrong answers and surprisingly few correct answers!
For those of you who said the deeper draft one all I can say is, really? Have you thought about taking up golf?

To explain the answer I use this analogy. A supertanker and a canoe are travelling side by side in a narrow channel. Both run aground at the same moment. The supertanker (with a draft of 18 meters) is now sitting in 17.99 meters of water and the canoe (draft of 0.1 of a meter) is now in 0.09 of a meter. When will each of them float off? When the water is .01 of a meter deeper of course. So yes the answer is they will both float off at the same time. Hopefully the Captain of the supertanker wasn’t down below making a salad like I was when it happened but that is not important now. The first correct answer we received was sent by Dallas Simpson who won a special edition Southern Cross Yachting cap for his wisdom. Well done Dallas. As for the rest of you who got it wrong, I have passed your names onto the RYA and the president (Anne, the Princess Royal) will be personally contacting you to withdraw your certificates as soon as she is finished giving the Aussies all the Gold medals in London. If you see a couple of corgies hanging around your driveway you know you are in trouble.

However I will give you all a chance to redeem yourselves with this week’s Yachtmaster brain teaser. Your question is this – you are in thick fog (aboard a boat by the way) and you hear a sound signal of another vessel in front of you. The signal is 2 long followed by 4 short blasts. What kind of vessel is this and what is it doing? So get thinking folks your life may depend on this one day!

The Brisbane to Keppel race is now only a few weeks away and we have one place left.
This is the sixth edition of the race and your chance to race against the 100 foot super maxi ‘Wild Oats XI’. The boys on Wild Oats are keen for revenge against us this year after we smashed them over the first 5 meters of the race last year. Sure they beat us to the finish by about 2 days but no one remembers who won, only who lead for the first 10 seconds.
The race starts on Friday 3 August with 2 days training the weekend before all for the unbelievable price of $1240. There are still a couple of places for the Yeppoon to Brisbane return trip and we also have places available for the Brisbane to Airlie Beach offshore trip departing 28/8. This is a 7 day trip passing through some of the most beautiful coastline and islands on earth. This is the trip I look forward to most each year and what better place to finish than the Whitsundays. The cost of the trip is $1650 and is ideal to build miles and complete a skippered passage for those working towards their Yachtmaster Offshore or Yachtmaster Coastal Qualifications.

Well that’s all for this week, get your answers rolling in about the fog question, and, as our cat has just been chased inside by a corgie, I am thinking that broadcasting on the internet about 2 of our school yachts running aground was perhaps not my best career move!
Until next time, fair winds and adequate depth.
Cheers Mike Job.